1. Field
The invention is in the field of irrigation controllers or timers which automatically operate irrigation systems, such as sprinkler systems, based on preprogrammed instructions.
2. State of the Art
Irrigation systems, such as turf watering systems and trickle watering systems for trees and shrubs are used extensively, particularly in arid and semiarid areas of the world, such as the western portion of the United States. The typical modern turf watering system consists of a plurality of sprinklers spaced according to the range of the sprinklers so as to cover the entire turf area. Individual sprinklers are fed by underground water pipes connected to a water supply source through electrically operated valves. The sprinklers are typically organized into groups or zones such that several individual sprinklers in a particular area of the turf are controlled by a single valve, with several separately controlled groups or zones required to cover the entire turf area. Typically, only one zone is watered at a time to ensure sufficient pressure to operate the sprinklers in the zone.
The electrically operated valves are typically controlled and sequenced by an electric timer or controller to which the valves are connected. Modern controllers are typically of solid state design and allow the user to control the sequence of zones to be watered, the start time of each watering, the duration of each watering, and the interval between waterings. A shortcoming of the typical modern solid state and older controllers which used mechanical clock-type timers is that if the preprogrammed watering schedule is desired to be stopped for a period of time, such as when there has been plenty of rain, the user has to stop operation and when the desired period has elapsed, has to remember to restart operation.
Another shortcoming of modern irrigation controllers is that should there be a problem, such as a broken sprinkler, it is usually discovered only when the user is in the irrigated area with the sprinkler on. In order to repair the sprinkler, the person must go to the controller and manually override it to shut off the flow of water to the damaged sprinkler. The controller is typically affixed to the inside or outside wall of a building some distance from the sprinklers. After overriding the controller, the person must walk back to the location where the sprinkler is, repair it, walk back to the controller to turn on the water, and walk back to the sprinkler to observe whether the repairs have been successful. If unsuccessful, the sequence must be repeated until the repairs are successful. At other times, a person may want to temporarily turn on a particular set of sprinklers to see if they are working, to temporarily water a particular zone in need thereof, or to turn off the watering in a particular zone, necessitating walking back to the controller to do so.
Separate remote control devices have been used along with sprinkler irrigation controllers. Such remote control devices are separate devices which are typically electrically connected in parallel with the controller to the respective water valve control solenoid such that the respective solenoid will be activated if either the preprogrammed or manual operation of the controller actuates the particular solenoid, or if the remote control is used to activate the particular solenoid. Thus, if a person wants to turn off a particular sprinkler which is turned on by the controller, it cannot be done remotely using the remote control since the controller is in parallel therewith. The person has to walk to the controller to turn off the sprinkler and back to turn it on again to continue the programmed watering. If a particular sprinkler is currently turned off, it can be turned on remotely, but if the controller turns on the sprinkler due to the pre-programmed instructions, then the remote control will not stop the flow of water therefrom. Therefore, an integrated remotely controllable irrigation controller is needed to overcome the disadvantages of separate systems.
Also, most controllers have a number of terminals along a bottom side thereof to which wires to the various electrically controlled valves are connected. Such wires extend from the terminals in uncovered and unprotected fashion. If a conduit is used to carry the wires from the sprinkler valves to the controller, the conduit ends below the controller and the wires extend from the conduit to the individual terminals of the controller. In some instances it would be advantageous to cover the wires as they extend from the conduit.